


You're the Terror in My Heart

by TodayWe_Are_Infinite



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Fright Night - Freeform, Halloween, Haunted House, Holding Hands, M/M, Slow Burn, Spooky Week, Word Play, amazing phil - Freeform, danisnotonfire - Freeform, you're the tear in my heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-28 09:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5086123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TodayWe_Are_Infinite/pseuds/TodayWe_Are_Infinite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan finds himself dragged along to a Halloween haunted house theme park, at Phil's insistence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is in honour of Spooky Week (which started off perfectly in my opinion)! I will (hopefully, hopefully, hopefully) be posting a new chapter every day until Halloween. Love and comments will encourage me to keep writing :) 
> 
> A HUGE thank-you to my beautiful betas, go check them out on tumblr: @blondietoldme and @meianoiteceu ... their love for all things Phan is excellent, and they're very good at motivating me to write when all I'm doing is whining. 
> 
> Please let me know what you think <3

**Phil**

Phil watched his friend as they stood together on the tube. Dan was bouncing on the balls of his feet, bottom lip caught between his teeth. Phil bit back a smile.

“Scared?”

Dan jumped a little before rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

“No, Phil, I’m not scared.”

“Could have fooled me,” Phil said, shrugging and looking away. He could see Dan fidgeting out of the corner of his eye. After a moment Phil relented and turned back to him. “It’ll be fun. I promise.”

Dan rolled his eyes again, but his face relaxed slightly. Phil grinned.

“Besides, I’ll tell everyone to make sure you’re always in the middle of the group. You’ll be nice and safe in there.”

Dan shoved against Phil’s shoulder with his own, clearly trying to hold back his own smile.

“Shut up. Don’t make me feel bad just because I’m not a masochistic psycho like you. I think it’s pretty _normal_ to not like purposely getting scared.”

Phil shrugged, still smiling, and didn’t retaliate. He was too excited. Dan’s mouth twitched, but he fell quiet again, and remained that way until they reached their stop.

Phil talked to fill the silence between them. He told Dan about all the times he had embarrassed himself in haunted houses in the past. Dan wasn’t responding, but it didn’t really matter. Phil had honestly been a little surprised that his friend had even agreed to come in the first place, but he was beyond glad that he had.

They walked quickly towards the buses, Phil still talking animatedly. Dan stayed silent.

 

**Dan**

Dan’s stomach lurched as they neared their bus stop. Phil tugged lightly at his sleeve, ushering him along the busy street, and he had no choice but to follow.

He wished he could stop the vaguely panicky feeling in his stomach, wished he could relax and enjoy the night like Phil and everyone else would.

Phil was talking to him- at him- as they headed to the bus, but he wasn’t listening. He couldn’t focus. He knew he was being slightly irrational, but every step they took was dragging him closer to the fucking stupid night he had no desire to be a part of.

Why was he even going? He should have said no the minute Phil had asked him to go.

He _had_ said no the minute Phil had asked him to go.

But… “It’ll be so fun Dan, I promise! Chris and PJ and some of their friends are going. We don’t even have to do all the haunted houses. There’s rides and stuff too. I’ll stick with you, I swear.”

And… “Please, Dan.”

So now here he was. Sitting on a stupid bus, tearing through London, heading towards _Fright Night_ : _Park of Terror_. Which was a stupid name, in his opinion.

It was going to be a horrendous night.

Phil looked so happy though. And Dan supposed he could wait outside while the others went through the houses if he _really_ didn’t want to do it. Phil would probably even wait with him.

Which Dan wouldn’t allow of course, because Phil was over-the-moon-five-year-old-on-Christmas-morning excited about this.

But Phil would probably offer anyway.

Dan sighed. He could do this. He could do this one stupid night. It couldn’t be too terrible. He might embarrass himself in front of his friends and multiple strangers, but he wouldn’t _die._ Unless he had a heart attack. Stupid fucking haunted houses.

 

**Phil**

Phil nearly had to drag Dan along behind him as they got off the bus. Dan’s obvious discomfort with the night’s impending activities made Phil want to laugh, but he tried not to make his amusement obvious.

“See the others?” Phil asked as they neared the crowded gates of the park, and then asked again when Dan didn’t respond. He glanced over when Dan still didn’t say anything, but just then there was a shout from their left.

“Dan! Phil! Over here.”

Phil grinned to see PJ waving his arms above the crowd. .

“There they are,” he said, turning back to Dan. “They’re near the front of the line, let’s go.”

Dan frowned, but followed Phil without complaint.

Chris and PJ were both visibly buzzing as Phil and Dan approached them, and the rest of their group were clearly excited as well. PJ grabbed Phil in a hug, yelling a greeting in his ear. Phil laughed and pulled back, wincing.

“Hi PJ,” Phil said, still laughing, as PJ turned to Dan with a similar greeting. Chris hugged them both too, and then turned to introduce the rest of the group.

“Everybody, this is Dan and Phil. Dan and Phil, this is Simon, Jake, Wes, Alec, and Dax.”

“Hiya,” Phil smiled.

Dan moved slightly behind Phil, raising a hand in greeting.

“Nice to meet you,” the boy called Wes said, stepping forward and holding his hand out towards them. Phil took it, and the boy smiled warmly, shaking Phil’s hand once, before releasing it and turning to Dan. “You seem nervous,” he said bluntly, holding his hand out to him.

Phil glanced at Dan to see his response. Dan’s eyebrow was crooked at Wes, and Phil could almost see the sarcastic response building up on Dan’s tongue.

“Is it because of the park, or is it just these two freaks you’re worried about?” Wes said before Dan could respond, nodding towards Chris and PJ.

“Oy!” Chris elbowed Wes indignantly, and Dan laughed.

Wes laughed too, and wiggled his hand still in the air.

“Just going to leave me hanging here?”

 

**Dan**

Dan took Wes’ hand awkwardly, and tried to shake it as confidently as he could. Wes’ smile grew, and he squeezed Dan’s hand gently before letting go.

“Don’t look so morose,” he said, his voice a little quieter than before, “I promise you’ll walk away alive.”

Dan swallowed, embarrassed that his reluctance was obvious.

“Yeah,” he said, forcing himself to smile nonchalantly. “Can you promise I won’t need new pants?”

Wes’ smile changed slightly, and his eyes widened minutely. He flicked them over Dan once, so quickly Dan wasn’t even sure it had really happened.

“Can’t promise that I’m afraid.” Wes said after a moment. He wiggled his eyebrows, and Dan laughed in surprise. That hadn’t been what he’d expected, and he shook his head. Wes smiled widely at him and slapped a hand gently on his shoulder.

 

**Phil**

The group finally made it to the ticket counter, and congregated again just inside the front gates.

“So. Every house?” Chris was literally bouncing, and everyone laughed at his excitement.

“I’m in,” said Phil quickly, and most of the others voiced their assent. Dan stayed silent, as did… Jake? Dax? One of the other guys, Phil wasn’t sure which one. They all seemed nice. Wes was a little weird though.

“Well there’s seven houses, I think,” said PJ, reading off of the park map he had picked up at the ticket booth. “Car-n-Evil, Asylum, Darkness, Fear, Haunted Mansion, Keepers Doll Factory, and Hollywood Horrors. Any first picks?”

“CAR-N-EVIL.” said Chris immediately. Phil and PJ both nodded in agreement. “Okay so let’s go!” Chris headed off without a moment’s hesitation, and PJ jogged after him, holding the map. After a second the rest of the group followed them.

Phil could feel Dan shadowing him closely as they approached the first house, and he felt a twinge of guilt. Dan had only come because Phil had wanted him to. This was probably the farthest thing from Dan’s first choice of activities, and yet he was here. Phil slowed his pace until he was beside his friend. He pretended to stumble slightly, and nudged his arm against Dan’s, staying close enough to leave it there when he straightened up. Dan didn’t respond, but Phil could feel the other boy’s muscles relax with the physical contact.

“Alright?” he murmured casually. Dan shrugged, and flashed Phil a smile.

“As alright as anyone about to be brutally tormented in the name of fun.”

“So pretty good then,” Phil said with a smirk, and was happy when Dan laughed quietly.

“It’s just-“ Dan hesitated. “I mean, I’m sure it’ll be fun and everything. And I’m not really _that_ scared. It’s just that I really, _really_ hate clowns.” Dan fumbled his way through the confession, and Phil grinned at him.

“Don’t worry,” he laughed, “it’ll be fun. All they can do is jump at you, they’re not allowed to touch. So just, you know, close your eyes or something.”

Dan shoved lightly against him, smiling again.

“Thanks Phil, very helpful.”

“I’m always here to help.”

 

**Dan**

Dan’s heart was beating so fast as they entered the line for the first house that he was surprised it wasn’t visible through his shirt. Maybe it was.

If only they hadn’t started with the carnival one. He was sure it wouldn’t be too bad, would maybe even be a little bit fun… If it wasn’t for the stupid clowns. He just knew there would be clowns.

At least they couldn’t touch him. That was good to know.

Dan looked down when someone pressed something into his hands.

“What’s this?”

“3D glasses. For the house,” Wes said.

“We have to wear 3D glasses?”

Wes nodded, and his expression was unnecessarily gleeful in Dan’s opinion.

“How else would everything seem like it’s jumping out into your face?”

“Oh I don’t know,” began Dan, but he was suddenly cut off by a blood-curdling shriek in his ear, and a pair of hands grabbing his arms from behind. Dan felt his heart stop for a split second, and he screamed, jumping forward, straight into Phil’s back.

“Ow!” Phil said, turning around. But he was laughing. They were all laughing. Dan glanced behind him, and threw his hands up in irritation when he saw Chris.

“This’ll be fun,” Chris smirked as he moved back in front of Dan.

“Oh, shut up,” Dan said, punching Chris’ shoulder.

And then it was their turn.

They entered the house, and there was distorted carnival music playing. Everything was bright, and glowing, and there were strange splatters of neon paint all over the walls.

“Put your glasses on,” said Phil, who was suddenly beside him again, and Dan obliged. The house transformed around him, the paint seeming to move and swirl on the walls. He edged past a framed picture that was popping out towards him, and turned to Phil.

“The clowns are coming, aren’t they?”

Phil laughed delightedly.

“Probably.”

They moved en masse through the first hallway before turning the corner into a slightly darker room. Dan started to relax. This was kind of fun. He was scared, sure, but this was just kind of creepy more than scary. And it was-

A clown suddenly appeared out of nowhere, laughing maniacally right in Dan’s face.

Dan’s heart felt like it was about to cut out on him, and he screamed so loudly his own ears hurt. He grabbed onto the closest thing to him- which happened to be Phil’s arm- and shook his head wildly.

“No, no, no, nopedy nope nope, _no_.”

Phil was laughing in his ear, but he didn’t shake off Dan’s grasp.

“This is _not fun Phillip_ ,” Dan said loudly, and Phil kept laughing.

They moved further into the room, and when two more clowns jumped out at them, Dan clutched Phil’s arm harder with both hands.

When they moved into the next hallway, and there were strange dead clowns hanging from the ceiling on chains, Dan took off his 3D glasses and shoved them into his pocket.

“What are you doing?” cried Phil, and Dan shook his head, pressed so closely to his friend that he didn’t even have to lean over to speak into his ear.

“Too much,” he said firmly, watching the rest of the group fumble through the room. “Clowns are already bad enough; dead, 3D paint splattered clowns are just too much.”

The rest of the house passed by in a whirlwind of neon colours, and murderous clowns appearing out of nowhere. Dan screamed loudly at each one, pressing himself into Phil. Phil was screaming too, but his face was lit up in delight, clearly having the time of his life.

Towards the end of the house, when yet another clown jumped out at them, they both jumped violently, and Phil’s hand shot up to Dan’s. He closed his eyes then, letting Phil lead him out.

They all stumbled out into the night air as a zombie clown cackled loudly behind them. Dan’s heart was still racing, and he was sure Phil’s arm would have bruises on it. Everyone was laughing, and talking, and Dan could feel himself teetering on the edge of an adrenaline high.

“That was amazing,” crowed someone enthusiastically. “Where to next?”

“Dark,” said Chris firmly, looking at the map PJ was holding. “We’ll go to Dark, and then on a few rides before the next one.”

“Lead on, oh captain, my captain,” said Phil cheerfully, and everyone laughed.

Chris headed confidently in the direction of the next house, and everyone followed him. It was only when they began walking that Dan realised one hand was still clasped tightly in Phil’s, the other on his friend’s arm.

He looked down, wondering why Phil hadn’t said something. He let go of Phil’s arm. Neither one of them said anything about their joined hands.

“That wasn’t so bad, right?” asked Phil.

“You’re kidding me,” said Dan, looking back over at him. “That was literal hell.”

“It was fun!” Phil protested, and Dan shrugged reluctantly.

“Okay, maybe it was a little fun. But only a little.”

“I knew it!” Phil said loudly, grinning in triumph. “I knew you would have fun!”

Dan smiled and rolled his eyes.

“Okay, okay, Mr. Know-it-all, that’s enough.”

There was a moment’s pause, and then Phil cleared his throat. His hand fell loose around Dan’s, and Dan pulled his own hand away quickly.

They were both silent, and then Phil laughed awkwardly. Dan joined in immediately, glancing over at his friend.

“Told you I’d stick with you,” said Phil, his voice a little too loud, a little too jovial. Dan nodded, still smiling widely.

“Yeah, thanks, buddy.”

They both laughed again.

Dan flexed his hand.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is in honour of Spooky Week! I will (hopefully, hopefully, hopefully) be posting a new chapter every day until Halloween. Love and comments will encourage me to keep writing :)
> 
> A HUGE thank-you to my beautiful betas, go check them out on tumblr: @blondietoldme and @meianoiteceu ... their love for all things Phan is excellent, and they're very good at motivating me to write when all I'm doing is whining.
> 
> Please let me know what you think <3

**Phil**

Phil tried to shrug off the vaguely awkward feeling between him and Dan as they followed behind the rest of the group on their way to the Dark house. He had noticed they were still holding hands when they left Car-n-Evil, but he could feel Dan’s pulse beating rapidly through his palm, so he didn’t let go.

He wasn’t sure why it got so weird.

Dan looked more relaxed now though, which made Phil feel a little better about dragging him along tonight. He had known his friend wouldn’t _actually_ hate the experience; he was just usually more inclined to choose a night at home over a night spent socializing with strangers. Phil was too, of course, but he would never miss out on a night like this. He loved the feeling of being scared, the adrenaline that came with it; it was exhilarating.

Dan was more animated as they waited in the short line for the next house. Wes was being extremely friendly, and Phil watched the two of them gleefully discuss TV shows, and their mutual disgust for people who give spoilers. Phil frowned.

When they entered the house, the front hallway was lit up with blinding lights from all angles. Phil shielded his eyes, squinting, and could see the others do the same. Suddenly a low, sinister laugh rumbled out from all around them, and smoke began to fill the room. The lights flickered once, twice, and then went out all at once.

“Fuck that’s dark,” Dan breathed quietly beside him as the room was plunged into total darkness. He was close enough that Phil could hear his breathing pick up speed. “Fuck,” he whispered again.

Phil remembered all the times he had teased Dan about being scared of the dark, and all the times Dan had laughed good naturedly back.

“Phil?” Dan’s voice was barely more than a breath of air.

Phil reached out until he felt Dan’s arm. Dan jerked away violently.

“It’s just me,” Phil whispered, laughing.

The rest of the group was moving on through the house. Phil could hear them laughing and yelling and screaming in the room ahead of them. He stayed where he was, and after a moment he felt Dan’s hand fumbling to find him. He reached up and grabbed it with his own, and held it tight.

“I’m here,” he said. “Let’s go.”

“Things are going to jump out at us and we won’t even see them,” whispered Dan.

“That’s kind of the point,” Phil whispered back, not sure why they were whispering.

“Yeah but _Phil_ ,” Dan said, his voice louder, “they’re probably watching us right now. And we _can’t even see them_.”

A chill ran down Phil’s spine and he shivered.

“Dan stop it!”

Dan laughed.

“What, is AmazingPhil getting scared?” his voice was a gravelly whisper in Phil’s ear.

“Shut up! You’re being creepy.”

Just then a low growl sounded through the room, and they both jumped. Dan’s free hand wrapped around Phil’s arm, and Phil could feel him pushing closer.

“Let’s go,” said Phil quickly, “we’ve been standing here too long, they probably need us to move.”

“Holy shit this is awful,” breathed Dan as they fumbled their way down the hallway. There were faint glowing lights showing them the way, but Phil couldn’t tell where they were coming from. They turned into a room on their right, and were immediately face to face with a brightly glowing skull that seemed to be floating in mid-air. It turned slowly to face them, its teeth clattering ominously in its jaw, and Dan turned and hid his face in Phil’s shoulder with a yelp. He could feel Dan’s breath through his jumper.

The floating skull- which Phil could now see actually had a body- jumped towards them with an eerie wail, and Dan’s fingers dug deeper into Phil’s arm. The skull clattered at them for a few seconds longer before turning around and seeming to disappear, and they continued through the room. Dan didn’t look up yet, moving so that he could walk behind him, hunched over with his face pressed between Phil’s shoulder blades. Phil rolled his eyes.

“You’re seriously going to hide behind me?”

He could feel Dan nodding into his back. He laughed.

“Come on, you big noob. Stop being such a baby.”

Dan shook his head, and Phil laughed again. There was a creaking noise on their left, and Phil flinched. He felt Dan’s grip on his hand tighten. One of the faint lights ahead of them began to pulse, getting a little brighter each time, until Phil could make out a large, hulking silhouette in the corner of the room.

“What the fuck is that?” Dan’s voice was loud in his ear, his breath whispering over Phil’s neck. Phil shivered.

“Go, go, go, go, go,” chanted Dan, pushing Phil from behind, past the looming figure, who began to lunge towards them. “ _No_!” shouted Dan at whatever it was, pushing Phil faster until they were in the next room.

Phil was laughing, but he cut off abruptly as something brushed over his face, raising gooseflesh over his skin.

“ _What_?” asked Dan.

“Something touched me,” Phil whispered, shuddering. They took another step forward, and something else brushed against his face, this time lingering in his hair. It obviously swept over Dan as well, because Phil’s breath was suddenly knocked out with a gasp as Dan’s arms wrapped around Phil’s stomach in a bone-cracking bear hug.

“Dan!” gasped Phil. “Let go.”

“Something is in my hair,” said Dan into Phil’s back, and Phil could feel him shaking his head back and forth, trying to get it out of his hair. “Get it _off_ me.”

“It’s just cobwebs or something,” Phil said breathlessly. “Please let go.”

Dan’s grasp loosened slightly, but his arms didn’t move from around Phil’s waist.

Phil tried to roll his eyes at the situation, but his stomach clenched suddenly, and he took a deep breath to steady himself.

“It’s so fucking dark, this is so stupid. Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.” Dan chanted in Phil’s ear.

Phil took another deep breath and moved forward again, slowly.

He was aware of more cobwebs brushing over him as he moved through the small room, and of a high pitched screaming noise from the hallway ahead of them, but he couldn’t seem to focus on his surroundings. Dan’s hands were clasped over Phil’s stomach, his body pressed so tightly against Phil’s back that he could feel the rise and fall of his friend’s chest as he breathed.

They inched forward for a few more steps when they heard footsteps coming crashing from behind. Dan tensed up, and Phil froze. The footsteps stopped just behind them, and Phil could hear loud, rasping breathing. Dan’s grasp on him tightened, and Phil grabbed his hands. Suddenly Dan fell forward against Phil with a shout, and laughter erupted behind him. Phil’s heart was thudding heavily in his chest. What the hell was happening?

“What the _fuck_ ,” Dan yelled, and the laughter grew louder. Phil held Dan’s hands tighter, trying to pull him forward, away from whatever was behind them, but Dan wasn’t budging. “They just _pushed_ me Phil. What the _actual fuck_ ,” Dan yelled again, his voice fierce, and suddenly the laughter stopped.

“Hey, hey, hey,” a voice came from behind them. “It’s me, it’s Wes.”

There was a movement, and then a light appeared, illuminating Wes’ face beside them.

“Jesus Christ,” breathed Phil. Dan’s hands abruptly disappeared from around him, and he frowned, folding his arms tightly over his chest.

“That wasn’t funny,” said Dan stiffly, and Wes pressed his lips together as if stifling a smile.

“It was a little funny,” he said, looking between the two.

Phil crooked an eyebrow at him, but stayed silent. If it had been PJ or Chris, he would yell, and then laugh, and then realize it was actually a little funny. But it wasn’t. It was Wes.

Wes shifted awkwardly for a moment, and then Dan laughed. Phil jumped and looked at him in surprise.

“Okay, it was a little funny,” Dan said. Phil raised his eyebrows. What?

Wes grinned.

“I lost track of you guys so I came back to make sure you were still alive. Then doubled back behind you because I couldn’t resist.”

“How noble,” Phil murmured.

Wes glanced at him, but didn’t respond, still smiling.

“So shall we continue?” Wes asked, turning off his phone’s flashlight.

“Yeah, yeah,” said Dan quickly, “let’s get this over with before they send something after us.”

As if responding to Dan’s words, a distinct rattling sound started up behind them, followed by a strange laugh. Phil shivered despite himself.

“Come on!” said Wes, and they all set off down the hallway again. Phil could just make out the shadows of Dan and Wes slightly ahead of him. When the laughter behind them grew louder, and something flew past overhead, he could see Wes grab onto Dan’s arm dramatically. Phil rolled his eyes.

The rest of the Dark house was boring, and Phil was glad when they finally stepped out into the lit up night world outside.

The rest of their group was waiting for them, and when Wes, Dan, and Phil emerged, they all clapped.

“We thought we’d lost you forever,” said Chris dramatically.

“I was there to make sure they survived,” said Wes with a wink, slinging his arm around Dan’s shoulders, and turning to grin at Phil.

Phil smiled back- because why wouldn’t he?- but didn’t respond.

“Well done Wes,” PJ said wryly, shaking his head at the three of them. “ _Anyway_ , we decided we could all use a drink. You guys feel up to heading over to the Seven Deadly Sins Bar?”

“Hell yes,” said Dan immediately, and Phil laughed, nodding his agreement as well.

They walked over to the bar as a group, following PJ who was still leading the way. Phil turned to Dan, who was walking slightly behind him.

“Still hating everything?”

Dan rolled his eyes.

“Okay Phil, you were right, it isn’t _completely_ horrendous.”

Phil grinned and wiggled his eyebrows, pumping a fist in the air. Dan rolled his eyes again, but he was smiling.

Just then an arm fell over each of their shoulders, and Wes appeared between them.

“You guys should have seen your faces back there,” he said, laughing. Phil resisted the urge to move out from under his arm.

“I almost punched you,” said Dan. “You definitely should never do that again.”

“We’ll see,” Wes said with another wink.

Phil stopped walking and pretended to be looking for his wallet, waving the others ahead of him.

He didn’t normally drink a lot, but he was ready for a pint. Or two, or three.

 

**Dan**

Dan was beginning to feel the beer a little. But so was everyone else, clearly- even Phil, which surprised him- and they were all having fun, so he didn’t really care. It’s not like he was drunk. Just buzzing.

“I’m ordering a round of shots!” yelled Wes exuberantly. He had definitely had more than a few drinks already. “Who’s in?”

A chorus of cheers went up from their table, and Wes disappeared in the direction of the bar.

Dan turned to Phil.

“He’s hilarious,” he said, gesturing towards Wes’ retreating figure. Phil smiled at him and nodded silently. “Did you hear what he said about Shibas?” Dan asked, snorting at the memory. “If you-”

“Yeah,” Phil cut him off shortly. “I heard. He said it ten minutes ago. And then you told me. Twice.”

Dan frowned at his friend.

“You’re being grumpy.”

Phil shook his head quickly.

“I’m not! I’m really not. It really was funny,” he said, smiling at Dan again. Dan eyed him suspiciously, but then relented, smiling back.

“Yeah, and then-” Dan was cut off again, this time by Wes sliding back into the booth beside him.

“Shots are coming!” he announced cheerfully, leaning against Dan. Dan clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“Good man,” he said, and Wes grinned up at him with a wink. Wes seemed to wink a lot. Wes also seemed to laugh a lot and talk a lot and nudge his elbow into Dan a lot. He was nice.

A vampire arrived to deliver their shots just then, and Dan looked at them doubtfully.

“Do we _really_ need shots?” he said, suddenly remembering where they were. “I mean, it’s a bit intense for a theme park,” he laughed.

“Speak for yourself,” said Phil beside him. Dan turned to him in surprise, and saw Phil knock back two shots without wincing. He raised an eyebrow at his friend, but Phil just shrugged.

“Come _on_ ,” said Wes. Phil’s face fell. Dan looked at him curiously for a moment before turning back to Wes, who was tugging insistently on his arm. “Just have _one_ itsy bitsy shot. Just one.”

“This is called peer pressure,” Dan shook his head disapprovingly, and Wes grabbed his arm.

“Okay, yeah, but just _one_. Pretty please?” Wes stuck his lower lip out and blinked up at Dan with a pout.

Dan laughed and shoved Wes away.

“Okay you freak, just one.”

Wes straightened and grinned, his eyes flashing, and handed Dan a shot.

 

**Phil**

Wes was definitely getting on Phil’s nerves. He was obviously smashed- okay, maybe just tipsy, but still- and Phil wished he would just leave Dan alone. Phil could feel the two shots burning their way through his bloodstream as he watched Wes cheer Dan on as his friend knocked back his own shot.

It was annoying. Everyone was talking to each other, and Dan wasn’t even looking at Phil, and Phil was just sitting there, buzzing from the alcohol he wasn’t used to, trying not to feel so pathetic. It reminded him of uni. Back when he still wasn’t quite sure what he was doing, wasn’t quite sure how to be himself. Back when one of his housemates would drag him to a party, and he’d spend the next three hours in the corner, pretending to laugh at the jokes of people around him. He didn’t like the feeling.

He also didn’t like the way Wes kept slinging his arm around Dan’s shoulders.

Phil shook his head, determined to stop thinking about it. Why did he care anyway? He didn’t. He was just a little tired.

“Shall we head to the next house?” he said loudly, and Chris turned to him immediately.

“ _Yes_ ,” he said enthusiastically, pointing at Phil. His aim was a little off, and he ended up pointing at Phil’s ear. “I like your thinking Phil Lester. We should definitely head to the next house.”  Chris stood up on the booth. “Everybody,” he announced, before the bartending zombie yelled at him to sit down. “Everybody,” he said again, sitting down quickly. “We’re going to the next house now.”

They settled the tab, which took longer than it should have due to a slight confusion over just exactly what “I’m ordering a round” entailed – of _course_ Wes didn’t actually pay for all the shots himself, typical – but eventually they were outside again, heading in the direction of the Asylum house. They were all just a little outside of sober, and the excitement in the air as they headed towards Asylum was contagious.

“I have to say,” Dan said to Phil as they approached the house, “this one looks kind of amazing.”

“It’s like American Horror Story,” agreed Phil, and Dan nodded excitedly.

“Holy shit, it is! Better watch out before-” Dan grabbed Phil’s shoulders and yelled something incoherent, in an attempt at a jump scare, but Phil just laughed.

“It’s not as effective if I’m looking right at you, Dan.”

“I highly doubt that,” said Wes, appearing, once again, out of nowhere. Phil sighed.

Wes grabbed Dan’s arm and dragged him towards the house. “Come _on_ , we’re about to go in. Why are you guys always so slow?”

Dan laughed and replied, but Phil couldn’t hear him. He followed more slowly behind them, hoping he wouldn’t have to walk through the house alone.

As he neared the group, just as they were about to enter the house, PJ looked over and caught his eye. His friend smiled and beckoned him over. Phil smiled back, but even he could tell it was less than enthusiastic. What was wrong with him? He _loved_ all this stuff. Why couldn’t he just enjoy it?

PJ eyed him for a moment before glancing around at the rest of the group. His eyes seemed to fall on someone or something specific before he looked back at Phil. His expression was strange. Phil stopped a few feet away from the group.

PJ walked over after a few seconds and smiled again, his eyes still holding that strange hint of- something. Phil looked away.

PJ stood beside him wordlessly, then put one hand on his shoulder. When Phil glanced at him, PJ was looking forward at their friends, still smiling.

Their group reached the front of the line, and Wes dragged Dan into the house.

Phil crossed his arms over his chest.

“Come on,” said PJ, “I hate asylum shit. I need someone to stick with me for this one.”

Phil agreed silently, and let PJ link an arm through his and lead him through the entrance.

***

The entire Asylum house was pointless. What a stupid idea for a haunted house.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're halfway through this Spooky Week fic of mine! I hope people are enjoying. Please let me know if you are (or even if you're not!), comments give me life.
> 
> As always, big thank-you to the delightful @blondietoldme and @meianoiteceu for being the most lovely, encouraging, phan loving betas I could have asked for! <3

**Dan**

The Asylum house turned out to be pretty fun. It was scary as hell, but Wes kept up a ridiculous monologue in Dan’s ear about the actors working in the house, and Dan couldn’t help but laugh.

Wes had held Dan’s hand through the whole house. Dan hadn’t thought anything of it until Wes had let go at one point, and Dan had involuntarily reached for his hand again.

Wes had looked at him then, a strange look, and squeezed his hand gently.

When they reached the end of the house and walked outside, Wes’ grip had grown tighter, as if daring Dan to let go. Dan wasn’t sure why he hadn’t.

They were standing in a group now, deciding what to do next. Wes was still holding Dan’s hand, still smiling at him brightly, still making funny comments in his ear. And Dan was…

Dan was starting to feel a little lightheaded actually. Probably from the alcohol, and the adrenaline.

He glanced over at Phil, and his stomach turned when he saw his friend’s face.

Phil wasn’t happy.

Phil was supposed to be loving this. That was the whole reason Dan had come to this whole stupid event. For Phil. Because Phil had practically dragged him.

But Phil looked like his dog had just died. No- his hamster. It was a hamster-mourning kind of face. Phil’s eyes flicked to his, and then immediately down. Dan frowned. Or maybe not. Phil didn’t look sad- he looked pissed off. More pissed off than Dan had seen him in a long time. Dan’s stomach turned again.

When the group decided on Haunted Mansion next, and Wes tugged on Dan’s hand, Dan let go abruptly. Why hadn’t he done that already? He rubbed his face with his hands and smiled weakly at Wes, who was looking at him with a curious expression.

“Alright mate?” Wes asked, his voice pleasant.

Dan nodded.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just need a toilet. I’ll meet you guys there.”

Wes winked and smiled. He never stopped winking and smiling.

“Don’t take too long.”

He strolled off with the rest of them, but Dan caught at Phil’s sleeve.

Phil turned and looked at him, and he was frowning, but he didn’t look too angry anymore.

“Phil,” Dan said, running a hand through his hair. “I feel… weird.”

Phil’s frown deepened, but now he just looked concerned.

“Are you okay?”

Was he okay?

Dan nodded.

“I’m fine, I just- can we grab some coffee or something? I think that tequila went straight to my head.”

Phil’s face relaxed, and he gave Dan a genuine smile.

“Of course.”

 

**Phil**

Phil felt remarkably better now that the rest of the group had gone ahead. He was feeling a little crowded, overwhelmed with all the people around them. He wanted to spend time with PJ and Chris, of course, and most of their friends seemed nice but – but it was just better like this. It was comfortable.

Not to mention it allowed him to get away from the dreadfully embarrassing fact that Wes had seen him watching.

He wasn’t sure why he had been, why he’d let it affect him so much. But Wes had been holding Dan’s hand. Holding his fucking hand. And they had both looked so happy. And Phil didn’t understand.

Wes had looked over at him before Phil had had a chance to control his features. He wasn’t sure what he had looked like, but Wes’ expression seemed to say it wasn’t good. He had been frowning, he knew that much.

Phil sighed heavily. What the hell was wrong with him tonight?

Dan was quiet too, and Phil glanced over at his friend as they walked. Dan didn’t look happy now. Not like before. Phil felt a flash of something angry and hot in his chest.

“What’s wrong?” he demanded, his voice coming out much more angrily than he intended. Dan jumped and stopped walking.

“I don’t know. Nothing.”

Phil regarded him closely, but Dan wouldn’t meet his eye.

“I just need to sit down for a bit,” Dan said after a moment.

Phil didn’t believe him, but he didn’t feel like digging deeper just now. He was too keyed up.

They continued walking in silence.

 

**Dan**

Phil was definitely angry. Dan wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t sure if Phil was angry at him, or angry in general, but it made him nervous. Phil was never angry. Not for real. He got frustrated of course, annoyed, bored, grumpy, snappy- Phil wasn’t perfect. But he wasn’t often _angry_.

When they found a coffee bar (Haunt of Darkness) Dan ordered two lattes at the counter and went and sat at the little table Phil had found in the corner.

Dan looked at his friend and smiled. Phil smiled back, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Dan tapped his fingers nervously on the table and looked down at his legs.

He wanted to talk to Phil, wanted Phil to tell him he wasn’t being crazy. He wanted to ask Phil why he was so angry, why nothing about this night felt quite right. But he couldn’t.

“Wes is friendly.”

Dan looked back up. He hadn’t expected that. Or had he?

“Yeah,” he nodded, keeping his voice bright. “He’s nice.”

Phil made a strange little noise in his throat, but nodded back.

They fell silent again, and Dan had to bite his tongue to keep the words in his mouth from tumbling out.

It was never like this between them. So awkward, and cold.

“Are you okay?” he asked suddenly, and Phil’s face dropped slightly.

“Yeah,” he said after a moment. “I’m okay.”

Dan raised an eyebrow at his friend.

“Sure, Phil.”

 

**Phil**

Why _wasn’t_ he okay? There was no real reason whatsoever. No reason for this strange, jittery feeling in his stomach, or the angry broiling knot in his chest. He took a deep breath and forced himself to smile at Dan. His own psychosis wasn’t Dan’s fault.

“I am,” he said, keeping his voice firm. “I’m okay. Just a bit tired I think. And maybe tipsy.”

Dan laughed, a real laugh, and shook his head.

“You took that tequila down like it was nothing.”

Phil’s stomach turned, as if remembering the aggressively burning bitterness of those two shots.

“It definitely wasn’t nothing,” said Phil with a grimace, and Dan laughed again.

“Well I was impressed,” he said, and Phil couldn’t help but smile back.

A wait staff appeared then with their lattes, popping up out of nowhere, dressed head to toe in black with only their eyes showing out of a small slit in the fabric. Dan jumped violently, and Phil’s smile grew.

She – he? – put the drinks down on the table, regarded them both silently for a few awkward seconds, and then left.

He and Dan sat in silence for a few moments, both of them drinking their coffees.

“Wes likes you, huh.”

Dan looked up at Phil’s words, and Phil instantly regretted it. Why had he said that? Now he just sounded like he was jealous. Which was stupid.

Dan shrugged mildly.

“I guess. He’s friendly, like you said before.”

Phil nodded rapidly.

“Yeah, yeah. Yup,” he popped the p dramatically.

Dan was looking at him sceptically.

“Phil?”

Phil began bouncing his leg under the table.

“He touches you a lot. Almost like he’s, like, you know- like he’s. Well.”

Phil closed his mouth abruptly, digging his fingers into his leg. What. The. Hell.

Dan was smiling strangely at him now.

“Okay,” he said, but it was more like a question.

“You know,” Phil said insistently, screaming at himself to stop.

Dan was still smiling, but his eyes looked worried.

“I know what?”

Phil bit his tongue, hard, then winced. That was stupid.

“I know _what_?” Dan repeated, annoyed.

“He’s flirting with you,” Phil blurted, and froze.

Dan’s eyes widened, and an expression of something akin to panic flashed over his face. It was only for a second though. And then Dan was laughing. Phil frowned.

“He’s not _flirting_ with me, Phil,” he said, still laughing. His laugh seemed off. Phil stayed silent. He couldn’t trust himself to speak anymore if he was just going to say ridiculous things like that.

“He’s not,” said Dan, his laughter dying away. “And even if he was…” he trailed off and shrugged. “That’s his choice,” he said after a moment, laughing again. “It’s a funny choice, but it’s his.”

“You don’t care if he flirts with you?” Phil’s chest was aching. He wanted this conversation, this whole night, to be over.

Dan was still laughing. It seemed forced.

“Why should I care? It’s not as if anything would ever come of it,” he said, and shrugged. “It’s funny.”

Phil looked away. He suddenly wished the coffee in his hands was something stronger than coffee.

 

**Dan**

Dan shoved his hands under his legs where Phil wouldn’t see how they were shaking.

Wes was flirting with him. According to Phil at least.

And Phil didn’t like it. That much was clear from his expression.

Did Dan? Did Dan like that Wes was flirting with him?

Dan pushed the question away, shoved it down deep, where he wouldn’t be able to think about it anymore. It was ridiculous anyway.

Phil wasn’t looking at him. He looked upset. Why? Dan’s stomach leapt.

“It’s just funny, Phil,” he said, trying to get Phil to smile again, to be happy again. “It doesn’t matter.”

Phil looked at him then, and Dan held his breath. His friend looked so… Dan couldn’t decipher Phil’s expression.

After a moment Phil nodded and smiled.

“I know. I thought it was funny too.”

Dan smiled back.

So fake. So, so fake.

They were silent, smiling stiffly at each other. Dan cleared his throat.

“They’re probably done now. Shall we head over there?”

Phil nodded, glancing down at his still half-full coffee cup.

“Are you feeling better?” Phil’s voice was quiet.

“Yeah, I’m fine thanks. You?”

Phil didn’t respond, other than to reach for his wallet.

“It’s fine,” said Dan quickly, “I paid at the counter already.”

Phil frowned, still staring at his shoes, and Dan thought he was going to object, but then he nodded and stood up.

“Thanks. Let’s go then.”

 

**Phil**

Phil walked miserably beside Dan as they headed to the Haunted Mansion to meet their friends.

He had no idea what had happened in that coffee bar.

Whatever it was, it had made Dan lapse into a strange, slightly giddy silence. And Phil was left feeling rather… empty.

What was happening tonight?

Neither of them spoke a word until they reached the Haunted Mansion. Their friends were already standing outside, and a couple of them gave him and Dan a strange look as they approached.

“Wow guys,” said Chris dryly as they rejoined the group, “way to disappear on us. We thought you were dead.”

“No we didn’t,” said PJ, “we thought you were being a couple of sneaky gits.”

Phil could literally see the switch in Dan. His shoulders straightened, his eyes grew wider, his smile brighter; he was erasing his strange, dark mood, for the sake of the others. Or for the sake of his own dignity.

“Oh shove off PJ,” Dan said, smiling widely, “I just needed some coffee.”

“And what did Phil need?” asked Chris loudly, wiggling his eyebrows with a smirk.

“Phil needed a break from you,” said PJ, shoving Chris, and Phil laughed half-heartedly.

“So,” said Dan loudly, suddenly, “What’s next? The Doll Factory?”

Phil stared at him. He was obviously uncomfortable if he was willingly suggesting a haunted house full of one of his biggest fears.

The group broke into a discussion, and Phil saw Wes sidling over to Dan out of the corner of his eye. Dan stiffened slightly when Wes leaned over to whisper something in his ear, but he responded cheerfully. Phil felt slightly ill.

After a few minutes they had decided to take another break to try out some of the big roller coasters scattered around the park, and headed over to the closest one.

“There’s nine of us, which lonely bastard is going to ride alone?” Chris asked, and everyone laughed a little awkwardly. It was silent, no volunteers, and Phil could see Wes’ firm presence by Dan’s side.

His stomach threatened to revolt.

“I’ll just sit it out,” he said after a moment. Everyone looked at him. Dan was frowning. Phil shrugged. “I’ve got a headache. I don’t think being thrown upside down will help too much.”

No one protested, but PJ clapped a hand on his shoulder again before leaving. Dan lingered behind, looking conflicted.

“Go on, Dan,” Phil said tiredly. “Wes is waiting.”

Dan rolled his eyes, and something angry flashed in his eyes.

“Oh, shut up Phil,” he said. “I’ll wait here with you.”

Phil shook his head.

“No, seriously. You love roller coasters. I already dragged you along tonight, I’m not letting you miss out on the part you’ll actually like. Go on.”

Dan hesitated, and Phil smiled at him.

“Seriously, go ahead. I’ll be fine.”

Dan smiled after a moment and nodded, jogging away to catch up with the others.

Phil watched him go, before turning and sitting heavily on a bench nearby. He sighed, putting his head in his hands and propping his elbows up on his knees.

He desperately wanted to shake off the dark mood that had taken hold of him, but he didn’t even know what its real cause was.

Someone sat down beside him on the bench, and he frowned down at the pavement. Couldn’t they have found a different bench?

“Hey,” said Wes, and Phil looked up in surprise. Wes was sitting beside him, his face apologetic. “How’s your head?”

Phil shrugged in response.

Wes sucked his lower lip between his teeth and looked at Phil for a long moment. Then he took a deep breath, and his eyes darted away.

“I just wanted to come and say sorry.”

Phil was taken aback. That hadn’t been what he was expecting at all.

“Sorry for what?”

“For not noticing something I should have.”

Phil frowned.

“What are you talking about?”

Wes shifted uncomfortably, but he brought his eyes back to Phil.

“I didn’t realize what was going on with you guys, and I didn’t mean to step on anyone’s toes.”

Phil felt like he had entered a conversation halfway through. He shook his head in confusion.

“I don’t understand,” he said.

“With Dan I mean,” said Wes, as if that clarified the whole thing. “I wouldn’t have even gone there if I had known you were there first.”

Phil felt like someone was sucking the air right out of his chest. He coughed once, to try and ease the pressure.

Was Wes honestly saying- he thought that Phil… and Dan…

Phil shook his head.

“I’m not anywhere first.”

Wes’ eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“Okay,” he said, “but there’s obviously something?” his voice turned it into a question. Phil’s brain scrambled to catch up.

“It isn’t- I mean are you asking…? There’s nothing there. With me. Or him.”

Wes’ expression changed, his mouth twisting slightly, as if he was trying to hold something back. He looked at Phil for several long seconds.

“Gotcha,” he said finally, with a hint of a smile. “That’s fine then. I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to back off anyway.”

Phil cleared his throat. Wes was backing off. Wes had been… _going there_ with Dan, but was backing off because he thought Phil was already there. Or wanted to be there. Or was going to be there.

Phil was aware that Wes was still watching him, waiting for his response, but the air was very much gone from his lungs, and he wasn’t sure he could speak. He nodded instead, and Wes smiled. He had a nice smile.

“No hard feelings, right mate?”

Wes held out his hand, and Phil took it wordlessly, shaking his head slightly. Wes shook it, still smiling, and then turned towards the ride.

Phil’s mind felt strangely blank, but his stomach had settled down considerably, and the pounding in his head was gone

“In all honesty,” said Wes after a minute or two had gone by, “I absolutely hate roller coasters. They scare me shitless. I just needed an excuse to stay behind.”

Phil could feel the corners of his mouth turning up, and he glanced at the boy beside  him. Maybe Wes wasn’t so bad. He was still a little annoying, but maybe not quite as bad as Phil had thought before.

Phil’s smile grew. He was more than ready for the rest of the night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Dan**

Dan was in a considerably better mood after the roller coaster. He had decided, while hurtling through the highest loop of the ride, that everything from before, all the weirdness, needed to be forgotten. He made up his mind to talk to Phil, to apologize. Everything could be fun again, he was sure of it.

As they all headed back out to where Phil was waiting, Dan was surprised to see Wes sitting on the bench too.

“Did Wes not come with us?”

“No,” said Dax, rolling his eyes. “He chickened out at the last second. I rode alone.”

Dan raised his eyebrows. A tiny part of him had wondered why he and Wes hadn’t ridden together.

He looked back towards the bench. Phil and Wes were talking. They were sitting pretty close together- and Phil was smiling.

Dan was surprised; he had been pretty sure that Phil hated Wes.

As they drew nearer, Wes threw his head back and laughed gleefully over something Phil had said, and a strange angry feeling washed over Dan.

Phil and Wes weren’t friends. Wes shouldn’t be laughing at things Phil was saying. Phil shouldn’t be looking at Wes, talking to him, smiling at him.

The scene unsettled Dan. He couldn’t say why, exactly, but the optimistic feeling from before was definitely gone.

Wes and Phil looked up as the group finally reached them, both smiling easily.

“How was it?” Wes asked with a grimace.

“Excellent,” whooped Chris. “Let’s do another.”

“No,” said Dan quickly, uncertain as to why. When the others looked over at him he made a face. “I- uh- it’s not fair to Phil.”

“Oh yeah,” said PJ after a second of silence. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better,” Phil said pleasantly. “I just needed to sit for a minute and clear my head.”

“I still want to do another house now,” said Dan. PJ and Phil eyed him curiously, but Chris shrugged.

“I’m down,” he said. “I vote the Fears house.”

Dan nodded quickly, agreeing without really thinking.

“Me too, sounds good.”

“You’re not going to be too scared?” Wes said, grinning at Dan.

Dan shook his head, not meeting Wes’ eye. He glanced at where Wes’ hand lay on the bench, uncomfortably close to Phil’s leg.

“I’ll be fine. Thanks.”

He knew his voice sounded stiff, but he didn’t attempt to correct it.

“Damn,” muttered Wes, moving away from Phil and standing up. He spoke so quietly Dan knew he wasn’t supposed to hear. “I just can’t get it right tonight, can I?”

Dan saw Phil stiffen, almost imperceptibly, and he glanced over at him, but Phil smiled immediately, no sign of discomfort. 

Wes walked noticeably apart from the group as they left the roller coaster area. Dan hoped he hadn’t upset him. He didn’t want that. He just wanted… what _did_ he want?

“Hey,” he said, impulsively plucking at Phil’s sleeve as they reached the Fears house.

Phil looked back at him with a smile. He definitely didn’t seem angry anymore. What had Wes said to him? Maybe Phil liked it when Wes winked too. What would that mean?

“What’s up?” his friend asked brightly. Dan stared at him for a moment, still surprised at the change. Phil nudged him, still smiling, and Dan blinked.

“Oh, I-” he glanced over to where their friends were entering the house. “I just wanted to see if…”

Jake, the last to enter, disappeared through the door.

“If you’re okay,” Dan finished. Phil’s smile grew, just a bit.

“I’m good!”

“Your head doesn’t hurt?”

“Not a bit. How are you feeling?”

Dan hesitated. He didn’t feel sick anymore. He felt strange though. He felt… confused. Confused about what, he wasn’t entirely sure.

“Better,” he said mildly.

“Good,” said Phil firmly, looking behind him. It was getting later into the night, and this house was at the back of the park, so there wasn’t a line, and it was rather empty where they were. “Shall we go in?” Phil said with a tiny shiver. Dan unconsciously stepped closer, then stepped back again.

“Yes.”

 

**Phil**

“I’m not getting in that.”

Phil pressed his lips together at Dan’s horror-filled disgust.

“You have to,” he said, lowering himself into the large coffin in front of him.

“That’s horrible! I’m not doing it!” exclaimed Dan, shaking his head rapidly.

The girl ushering them in let out a low cackle.

“You must,” she whispered, and Phil shivered.

“It’s fine, Dan,” said Phil, lying down to punctuate his words. “It’s just to get inside the rest of the house, I did this last year.”

Dan eyed him warily, and the girl stepped forward to close the coffin lid over Phil’s head. He saw Dan’s eyes widen in horror as everything went dark.

Despite his reassurances, Phil felt a shudder of fright go down his spine as he lay in the pitch black. The coffin jerked forward for a couple of long seconds before coming to a halt. There was a pause, and then the lid cracked open again, and a crazed looking scientist peered down at him.

“It’s time to get up now,” the man hissed at him, and Phil got out quickly.

By the time he was standing up, Dan’s coffin- Dan’s coffin, what a hideously terrifying thought- slid through the gap in the wall, and Dan was hastily climbing out.

Dan looked pale, but he shot Phil a grin.

“You survived,” murmured Phil, and Dan nodded with a slight laugh.

The shallow hallway they were in was merely the docking station for the coffins, so they walked straight through into the first room.

“Oh,” Phil heard Dan breathe. They were standing in an old, broken down kitchen. There was grime and dirt covering everything, and the room’s walls and ceiling were crawling with projections of bugs. There was a faint cloying, slightly sickening smell lingering in the air. “What the hell is this?”

“Germs, I think.”

Dan wrinkled his nose.

“It’s not very scary, is it? Just disgusting.”

“Looks like our kitchen when I’ve been away for a few days.”

Dan shoved his shoulder into Phil’s, and Phil snorted.

They carried on into the next room, and were immediately met with an almost overwhelmingly loud cacophony of barking and snarling. They both jumped, and Dan stepped back once, into Phil’s chest. Instead of stepping away again right away, Dan reached back and took Phil’s hand.

The room was filled with cages of large, angry, rapid dogs. Foam was oozing out of their mouths, and their eyes glowed red as they lunged repeatedly against the bars of their cages.

“They’re not real,” said Phil reassuringly in Dan’s ear, and Dan turned his head to look at him. His eyebrows were raised.

“ _Really_?”

His voice was sarcastic. Phil shrugged.

“You just seemed scared.”

Dan glanced down at their joined hands, and suddenly seemed uncertain.

“Yeah,” he said after a moment, “it startled me. Come on.”

Phil let Dan pull him through the room, barely jumping when one of the cages crashed ominously behind them.

They made it through the next two rooms- a dentist, and starving wild animals- easily, but the third room made Phil pause at the doorway.

Dan looked back when Phil’s hand stopped him from heading in further.

“What?” he asked.

Phil shuddered.

“This one’s spiders,” he said, shuddering again.

Dan raised one eyebrow, and glanced behind him. There were spider webs covering the door, and a small spider was crawling over the frame.

“I can see that,” he replied.

Phil made a face, and after a moment Dan grinned, his eyes lighting up.

“Is it my turn to be the strong one now then?

Phil just eyed the spider behind Dan’s head in disgust. Dan’s smile grew wider, and he tugged lightly on Phil’s hand.

“Come on, tough guy, I’ll keep you safe.”

Phil hesitated a moment longer, then followed Dan reluctantly.

The moment they were through the door, a spider the size of a large dog came rushing towards them. Phil made an embarrassingly loud squeaking noise, and closed his eyes. He could hear Dan laughing, but didn’t open his eyes again, content with letting Dan lead him through the room. It seemed abnormally large; they walked for what felt like at least a minute, moving around obstacles as they went. Something scraped against Phil’s leg, and he jumped. Dan laughed again, and Phil squeezed his eyes open a crack; Dan was grinning at him, so Phil looked around uneasily.

“Dan!” he said loudly when he saw that they weren’t any closer to the room’s exit than when he had last looked. “You took me in a circle, you asshat!”

Dan’s laughter doubled, and Phil pushed his friend away from him. Dan’s grip on his hand tightened, and Phil was pulled along on the momentum of his own shove until he crashed into Dan’s chest. Dan huffed out a large breath of air at the sudden contact, and his laughter stopped abruptly.

Phil blinked up at Dan for just a second. Dan’s face had gone rigid, and he was staring at Phil with the strangest expression.

“What? Are you okay?” Phil asked quickly, stepping back.

Dan sucked on his lower lip, his eyes still on Phil.

“What?” asked Phil again, suddenly self-conscious.

“Nothing,” said Dan quietly after a minute. “Nothing. Let’s go.”

They left the spider room quickly, Phil still rather confused. The next room was the fear of heights, and despite the rather lame effects- in Phil’s opinion- he could feel Dan’s pulse racing again, through their closely pressed hands. He must be terrified. Phil squeezed his friend’s hand reassuringly.

 

**Dan**

Dan wasn’t scared in the slightest. Not about the house, at least.

His heart was still thudding wildly though, and he took a deep breath to calm himself. He and Phil were standing on what appeared to be a platform miles above the ground. Wind was whipping through their hair, and every so often the platform would shudder, as if they were in danger of it caving in. While it would normally be at least a bit disconcerting, Dan couldn’t tear his attention away from the feeling of Phil’s hand in his. He wasn’t sure why. Every few seconds Phil would give his hand a little squeeze, as if reminding him they were safe. They weren’t though, were they?

“Keep going,” said Phil loudly behind him, speaking over the sound of the wind, and Dan moved forward. He was starting to feel stifled in the house. There were only two more rooms, and Dan pulled Phil through them quickly now, eager to be out of the house. As they reached the exit, something dropped in front of Dan’s face, and he jumped involuntarily.

“What was that?” asked Phil in his ear, much closer than Dan had expected. His breath brushed against Dan’s ear, and Dan shivered, turning his head slightly. He could just make out Phil’s face out of the corner of his eye, inches away from his own.

“I don’t know,” Dan whispered. His heart felt like it was slogging through molasses. Phil’s thumb brushed softly over the back of Dan’s hand, so softly it felt like a mistake, and Dan’s stomach dropped to the floor. He felt frozen to the spot, unable to move. Phil was still breathing gently against his neck, and Dan suddenly felt frantic for fresh air.

 

**Phil**

Phil was standing too close to Dan. He knew he was. He hadn’t meant to step so close, and he knew Dan felt uncomfortable, but somehow, for some reason, he didn’t move.

Phil’s pulse felt very rapid, almost dramatically so. Adrenaline, he realized. From the house. Just the house.

Phil heard Dan’s breath catch in his throat. Whatever had fallen from the ceiling had really taken him by surprise. Phil wondered what Wes would be doing in this situation, and bit the inside of his cheek. Why was he wondering that? Why was he thinking about Wes at all?

Phil stroked his thumb over Dan’s hand, suddenly needing to remind himself that he was there, he was real, that Dan was a solid presence beside him. In his life.

Dan grew very still at the gesture, and Phil froze. Did he really just stroke Dan’s hand? Shit.

They both remained where they were for a long moment, ignoring the noises in the room behind them.

Then Dan exhaled loudly, as if releasing all the air in his body, and dropped Phil’s hand.

Phil immediately went to grab it back again, but stopped himself when he realized he had no reason to do so.

Dan left the house without a word, and Phil followed him quickly.

Dan kept walking when he got outside, and Phil stopped, giving him space. He could tell by the stiff way he was walking that his friend wasn’t quite alright, and he didn’t want to discover that he himself was the cause.

Dan walked for a few seconds before stopping, and turning back. Phil could tell his expression was being carefully held in place.

“Where is everybody?” Dan called back to him, and Phil suddenly realized that their group was nowhere to be seen. They hadn’t waited? That seemed strange.

“I have no idea,” Phil answered, still waiting where he was.

Dan took another deep breath, and then walked slowly back to Phil. He was smiling. Awkwardly, but still smiling. Phil smiled back in relief. Dan was still upset, he could tell, but not at him. Not at Phil.

“What should we do now, then?” Dan asked.

Phil looked around. It was still fairly empty where they were, at the far end of the park. The rides and other houses were on their right, but on their left Phil could see booths full of games and items for sale.

He gestured to them with his head.

“I’m sure the others will come back when they realize we haven’t appeared again. Want to check out the stalls?”

Dan looked over to where Phil had pointed, as if he hadn’t noticed them before. He probably hadn’t. Dan wasn’t very observant.

“Sure,” he said after a moment, and he was smiling again. It was a strange smile. Dan was giving him a lot of strange smiles tonight. Everything about everything was a little strange tonight. Phil smiled back anyway.

“Sure Phil,” said Dan again, “let’s go check out the stalls.”

Phil wasn’t entirely sure why the words made his chest tighter, but they did.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALMOST DONE!! One chapter left after this. Who's going to miss spooky week phan? 
> 
> Let me know what you think, good or bad. I appreciate comments so much. 
> 
> Lots of love to my betas @blondietoldme and @meianoiteceu (on tumblr), as always <3

**Dan**

“Look at this one,” Dan laughed, picking up a zombie mask and holding it against his face. He reached his free arm out and staggered over to Phil, making groaning noises under his breath. “I’m coming for you, Phil Lester.”

Phil smacked his hand away with a plastic knife.

“Get back, you zombie nerd,” he said dramatically, scowling threateningly at Dan.

Dan laughed and put the mask down.

The boy in charge of running the stalls was dressed as some kind of evil one eyed creature, and Dan assumed he was supposed to be in character, but considering the lack of customers, he couldn’t blame the kid for being on his phone, his mask pushed up onto his forehead. He clearly didn’t give a shit about what Dan and Phil were doing.

Dan picked up another mask and turned away from Phil to put it on. When it was secure against his face his jumped around again with a loud scream, arms in the air over Phil’s head.

Phil jumped- which Dan counted as a victory- and then laughed when he saw what Dan was wearing.

“That’s beautiful on you, Dan.”

Dan swooped down into a curtsy, before pulling the porcelain doll mask off his face.

“I think it’s freaking creepy,” he said with a shudder, tossing it back on the table.

“Yeah? What about _this_.”

Dan looked back at Phil, who had draped a red cloak across his shoulders, and held it up over the bottom half of his face. Dan raised one eyebrow, and Phil dropped the cape with a flourish, hissing menacingly. He had a pair of plastic vampire teeth in, and he narrowed his eyes at Dan.

Dan paused before responding. The teeth oddly suited Phil.

Phil straightened up, looking sheepish.

“What?” he asked, voice muffled.

Dan felt a smile creeping up on his face and shoved it down.

“I’m just wondering where you got those teeth from, and why the hell you put them in your mouth.”

Phil wiggled his eyebrows.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he was trying to sound mysterious, but the fangs protruding from his top lip slightly garbled his words. The fake teeth scraped against Phil’s bottom lip as he spoke. Dan bit the inside of his cheek and looked away.

He grabbed another mask to fill the silence.

“Look Phil, a lion mask” he said quickly, “this one’s perfect for you.”

Phil grabbed it immediately, always game for a good topic changer.

“You’re right,” he said, the fangs having vanished. “It’s perfect.” He pulled the animal mask over his face and held his hands out like claws. “What do you think? Am I a scary lion?”

Dan laughed, and then tilted his head.

“I’m not sure you are a lion. I thought you were, but I just realized there’s no mane.”

Phil pulled the mask off and looked at it.

“Maybe you’re a lion cub,” suggested Dan.

Phil shook his head.

“I think it’s a bear, actually,” he said. He looked up at Dan and grinned, putting the mask back on. “What do you think, Dan? Am I a good enough bear for Bear?”

Dan blinked at his friend’s words.

Phil roared and swiped at Dan’s head.

“Answer me, Dan,” he said, making his voice a low growl.

Dan laughed and pushed Phil’s hands away.

“Okay, okay! Yes, Phil,” Dan said, still trying to fend off Phil’s bear attack, “you’re a wonderful bear. Okay? Happy?”

Phil stopped hitting him, and nodded, still wearing the mask.

“Yup!” he said in his normal voice. He took the mask off and handed it to Dan. “Your turn!” he said cheerfully.

Dan shook his head and put the mask on the table.

“I think that’s enough of that for one night.”

Phil crooked a smile at him and shook his head, so tiny a gesture that Dan almost missed it.

“But I like bears,” Phil said quietly.

Dan chewed at the inside of his lip and turned back to the table.

“Wanna play a game?” Phil asked a minute or so later.

Dan turned, expecting to see his friend wearing a mask, but instead just saw Phil gesturing to the four or five carnival-style games behind the shop stalls. Dan raised his eyebrow and shook his head sadly.

“I expected better from you, Phillip Lester.”

Phil dropped his hand and frowned, looking confused.

“What did I do?”

Dan darted back a few tables, to the Saw mask he had seen earlier. He put it on and turned back to Phil, stalking towards him threateningly.

“Do you wanna play a game?” he cackled, and Phil groaned, smacking a hand to his forehead.

“I didn’t even think of that!” he said, shaking his head at himself.

Dan stepped closer, so that he was only inches away from Phil, and made his voice go lower.

“I said: Do you, Phil Lester, wanna play a game?”

Phil shuddered, and Dan smirked behind the mask.

“Stop!” said Phil with a short laugh. “You’re being creepy now!” He reached out and swiped the mask from Dan’s head. Dan straightened up, still smirking, and looked down at Phil.

“You know, you’re really not as brave as I thought you were.”

Phil rolled his eyes and set the mask down beside him.

He looked back up at Dan, and Dan sucked in a breath of air, and held it.

Phil frowned slightly, and took a step back.

“Well I don’t know about you,” Phil said airily, “but _I’m_ going to go win a stuffed lion.”

“You already have a stuffed lion.”

Dan’s voice was only the very slightest bit breathy, and he congratulated himself.

“I know, but Lion needs a friend.”

“I thought he had a wife.”

Phil rolled his eyes.

“He does have a wife. I just said he needed a _friend_.”

Dan laughed.

“Are you saying he’s not friends with his wife then, Phil? That’s sad.”

“No,” Phil drew out the word slowly, as if speaking to an imbecile. “I’m saying he’s got a lovely wife, and now he needs a friend. He doesn’t have a Dan!” Phil’s voice was easy, light.

Dan laughed, shoving away the feeling the words gave him.

“Oh, he needs a Dan, does he? Better look for a black lion then. You know, to match his black, Dan soul.”

Phil just laughed, and turned towards the game booths.

Dan trailed behind him as he made his way to the ring toss game.

The girl running the games was just as enthusiastic as the boy with the costumes. She glanced up from her phone to take Phil’s five quid, and hand him three rings. She pointed at the targets without a word, and then went back to her phone.

“Maybe she’s supposed to be a mute,” whispered Dan.

“Yes,” Phil whispered back seriously, “maybe she’s had her mouth sewn shut.”

Dan snorted back a laugh. Phil frowned and shushed him.

“I have to concentrate now, Dan.”

Phil turned to the game and frowned, staring between the target, and the ring in his hand, as if measuring the distance he would have to throw it. He leaned over and swung the ring in his hands a few times. His tongue stuck out from between his lips in concentration. Finally, after what felt like an agonizingly long time of preparation, Phil threw his first ring.

Dan followed it with his eyes as it crashed against the far wall of the booth, nowhere near any of the targets.

“Wow Phil,” he said dryly, “I’m impressed. That was even worse than I was expecting.”

“Shhhhhh,” said Phil, waving his hand in Dan’s face without turning around. He weighed the second ring in his hand, and then threw it. It came significantly closer to one of the targets this time, and Dan raised his eyebrows. Phil nodded, and smiled, a small, secret smile, as if encouraging the ring. He threw the third one then and this time, miraculously, it snagged on a target and stayed there. Phil threw up his arms in celebration, turning to Dan with a look of pure delight on his face.

“I did it! Did you see that? I did it!”

Dan laughed in surprise.

“I saw, well done Phil! You’ve surpassed all my expectations for you.”

Dan’s jibe didn’t do anything to sway Phil’s glee, and he turned to the girl, who still hadn’t looked up from her phone.

“Can I try and get another one, for a bigger prize?”

The girl looked up, blinking as if surprised to be spoken to. Dan could see Phil’s eyes darting to her lips, and he did the same, waiting to hear her voice. She glanced between Phil and the successful ring and raised her eyebrow.

After a moment she shrugged and held out three more rings for Phil to take, pointing at the cash box as she did so.

Phil deposited a bill into the box, and took the rings from her with a meaningful look at Dan.

“Sewn shut,” he mouthed, and Dan stifled a laugh.

Phil tossed the next three rings in quick succession, without managing to hit another target. He sighed, frowning slightly, and turned back to the girl.

“No, no,” said Dan quickly. “I’m cutting you off. No more rings.”

Phil huffed and pretended to pout, but then brightened again.

“That’s alright. I’ll just get my prize.”

They both turned and looked at the girl expectantly. She didn’t even bother to look up from her phone this time, gesturing vaguely to the stuffed animals behind her.

Phil glanced at Dan, who shrugged.

“What shall I get, then?”

 

**Phil**

Phil was absurdly happy over his small victory. He couldn’t count the number of times he had played games like this over his lifetime- he could never resist the tantalizing chance of winning- but this was the first time he had ever won.

He eyed the prize stuffed animals hanging in front of them.

“Which one looks the best?”

Dan surveyed the options with him.

“I’m sure you can only pick a small one?” he asked, half to Phil, half to the silent girl beside them. She didn’t respond. “I mean, you only hit the very outside target.”

“That’s probably the hardest one to hit,” Phil responded immediately, not letting anything deter his joy. Dan laughed.

“Yeah, probably,” he echoed. “You should pick a big one then,” he said, looking directly at the girl. She said nothing. Phil stifled a laugh. “Pick the _biggest one there is_ ,” Dan said dramatically. Still no response. Dan turned to Phil then, and shrugged, his eyebrows raised. “Might as well,” he said, his voice lower.

Phil looked back at the wall of toys. There were no lions, unfortunately, so he scanned his potential choices.

“How about-” he began, but was cut off by a screech of discovery from Dan.

“ _Oh my god there’s a llama_ ,” Dan said loudly, grabbing Phil’s shoulders and shaking him. “A freaking _llama_ , Phil!”

Phil couldn’t see any llamas.

“Where?”

Dan climbed over the partition separating them from the prizes. The girl glanced up at him and frowned. She looked around, and saw that there was no one else nearby, and looked back at her phone. Dan strolled towards the wall and plucked something down. He came back to Phil and held it out with a grin.

“See? A llama.”

Phil looked at the absurdly small plushed toy in Dan’s hand. It _was_ a llama. He laughed, and Dan raised his eyebrows.

“Well?”

Phil shrugged.

“Alright then. I choose the llama.”

Dan grinned and handed it to Phil.

“Congratulations Sir, here is your llama.”

Phil laughed and pushed it back towards Dan.

“You keep it. Llamas are your thing. Besides, Lion and his wife would feel betrayed.”

Dan gave him a funny look, before shoving the llama into his pocket. The head stuck out, looking oddly perturbed by its new surroundings. The girl looked up at them for a moment, her eyes lingering on the small llama sticking out of Dan’s pocket.

“Thanks,” said Dan, his voice lacking the dramatics from a moment before. The girl looked away again.

“Let’s try the next game,” Phil said quickly. Dan shook his head.

“No, no more games. You just spend ten quid on the smallest llama toy I’ve ever seen.”

“To be fair, have you seen many llama toys?”

Dan tilted his head as if deep in thought and then shook his head.

“I guess not.”

“Well there you go,” said Phil triumphantly. “This may just be the _biggest_ llama toy you’ve ever seen then.”

Dan shook his head as if he was completely done.

“Fine, Phil, you just spent ten quid on the biggest pitifully small llama toy I’ve ever seen. Better?”

“Much.”

Dan rolled his eyes.

Phil suddenly wondered if the girl thought he had been trying to win a toy for Dan. The thought made him smile and he wasn’t sure why.

Suddenly there was a loud chiming sound from all around them. Phil saw the boy near the costumes straighten up and stow his phone away, turning towards a small group of people that had reached his booths. He said something, but Phil couldn’t make it out. The group laughed and looked around, and one of them gave a small scream.

“They’re coming to get you.”

Phil’s head whipped around to stare at the girl beside them. He had almost convinced himself that her lips really _were_ sewn together, and was shocked to hear her voice. Dan jumped too, and they both looked at her in silence. She was staring at them, no sign of her phone anywhere. Her eyes were in shadow, but they gleamed as she looked up at them from beneath hooded lids. She licked her lips slowly, and Phil watched the motion with his eyes.

“Who?” asked Phil.

The girl smiled disturbingly, and a chill ran down Phil’s spine. Dan stepped closer to him.

“They’re coming for you,” she said in a grating whisper. Phil shivered again. Her sudden shift in character was the scariest thing he had seen all night. “Look!” she said suddenly, her eyes shifting to something behind them. “There comes one of them now.”

Phil and Dan both turned quickly, and saw a hulking black figure loping towards them.

Phil glanced back towards the girl, but she was back on her phone, giving no sign of having spoken at all.

“Holy shit, Phil,” whispered Dan, backing away from the thing.

Phil knew it was obviously all just part of the park, but he had to admit that he had no desire to see what would happen if the figure reached them. 

He grabbed Dan’s hand- because really, what was one more time tonight?- and began to move quickly away, dragging Dan behind him.

“Come on, come on, come on,” he said under his breath, as the creature after them began moving faster.

Someone nearby screamed, and Phil heard a nasty garbled laughing sound from the same direction.

“What the fuck!” yelled Dan, obviously hearing the noise too, and Phil laughed. He was scared shitless, but he still loved it. “He’s coming Phil. Oh god, oh god, he’s coming!”

Phil was laughing breathlessly now, pulling Dan behind him as he ran towards the darkest corner of the park. Probably not his smartest move.

He saw an empty building- an out of use toilet- and dragged Dan behind it with him.

It was only once they were both back there that Phil realized what a tiny space there was between the building and the park’s fence.

Phil’s back was against the chain link fence, and Dan was pressed in between Phil and the building. Their clasped hands were wedged between their chests.

Phil was too focused on their escape attempt to worry about comfort yet, and he held his breath, listening for sounds of pursuit. Dan seemed to be holding his breath too. After several long seconds had gone by, Phil let it out and laughed again.

“I think he’s-,” he said, turning to look at Dan, but his words died on his lips when he saw his friend’s face.

Dan was already looking at him, and Phil had never seen the expression he had on before. His eyes were wider than usual, and his mouth was parted slightly.

Phil could feel Dan’s body moving as he breathed, and he suddenly realized just how close they were. There was barely a hand's width between their faces. Between their lips.

Phil’s eyes darted down to Dan’s lips involuntarily, and Dan sucked in a breath of air between his teeth with a small gasp.

Phil felt very trapped. But he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to move.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S FINISHED!
> 
> Sorry I'm a little late with this chapter, the Disneyland Paris Halloween party was occupying my time last night :D 
> 
> I hope everyone enjoyed this spooky week story, PLEASE let me know what you thought, I adore comments <3 
> 
> Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you to my lovely betas Megan and Meredith for helping me and putting up with my whining and eratic writing habits. xxx

**Dan**

He needed to look away. He was staring at Phil, listening to the sound of him breathe, and it was so familiar, so comforting. They were standing so close, his hands trapped against Phil’s chest, and Dan needed to look away.

His fingers moved of their own accord instead, twitching up to tug gently at the collar of Phil’s shirt. Phil's breath caught in his throat and he bit his lip. Dan watched it, watched the way his teeth caught at the skin of his lower lip and pulled. Dan exhaled slowly, and Phil let go of his lip with his teeth, flicking his tongue across it instead. Dan felt a sudden wave of cold, pure fear rush down his spine. This was not okay.

He wrenched his eyes away, and felt Phil slump forward slightly with a small huff of air.

Dan’s heart was racing harder than it had been all night.

The adrenaline must have really got to him that time, he realized. It went straight to his head. How strange.  
  


**Phil**

It was only a moment, only a split second of their lives before Dan broke the eye contact and looked away. Only a moment, and yet somehow everything changed.

Phil felt like time had stopped, like the universe had granted him time to collect his thoughts, to gather himself, to realize…

To realize.

Everything was different now. He wasn’t sure how it could possibly go back to what it was before. To before he could feel Dan’s breath on his cheek, his arm pressed against his chest, his hand clasped in his. Before he had seen how close their lips were. Before he had wanted to close that distance.

Phil blinked. Shivered.

It seemed impossible not to notice it now. He had been trying the whole night - and maybe longer? He wasn’t sure now,  because it felt so normal - to ignore the way Dan’s eyes crinkled when he laughed, and widened when he was scared, and how his chest rose and fell dramatically when he was trying to calm himself down. How his hair was everything Phil wanted his to be, and how he would love to run his fingers through it. How his hands felt warm, and soft against Phil’s. How his lips looked soft too.

Until now, Phil wouldn’t have thought these things were even on his mind at all, but all these things, all these little things about Dan… they popped into his mind all at once, as if they had been waiting there, just biding their time.

He could feel a part of him trying to shove it all back, throw it away, reject it entirely.

But he didn’t want to.

It was scary, scarier than anything at the park, anything he had ever experienced before. But he had a sudden overwhelming urge to act on it. He didn’t want to go back to not knowing.  

Now that he knew, there was no point in pretending he didn’t anymore.

 

**Dan**

“I think he's gone,” said Phil, and his voice was different.

Dan let go of his hands with a jerk, putting them down at his sides. They were standing chest to chest now, and he regretted letting go.

Dan didn’t look back at Phil, but he could see his friend watching him. Phil had just opened his mouth to say something, when there was a shout from nearby, and they both jumped.  
  
“Daniel, Phillip, answer me if you’re alive.”

PJ’s voice was just a touch on the side of concerned, and Dan wriggled out of the confined space quickly.

“Over here, Peej,” he called loudly, not waiting to see if Phil had followed him out.

PJ was jogging in their direction, and Dan could see the others following at a slower pace behind.

PJ slowed down as he reached Dan, his eyes darting back and forth between Dan, and something behind him.

“You guys keep disappearing. Where were you?” PJ asked finally, just as Dan felt Phil come up behind him.

“Behind the shed,” said Phil, and Dan frowned sharply at him.

“We couldn’t find you guys so we were checking out the costumes.”

PJ looked between them again, then nodded.

“Right. And there’s a special costume booth back there, then?”

Phil laughed, but Dan frowned harder. It wasn’t funny.

“Some creepy guy was running after us, so we went back there to lose him. That’s all.”

PJ nodded again, his face oddly blank.

“Right, right. Gotcha. Anyway, we’re going on the Ferris wheel next if you want to join us?”

Of course they were going on the Ferris wheel next.

Dan nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets in an attempt to seem nonchalant. He didn’t know why he felt so rattled.

 

**Phil**

PJ was looking at him curiously as they walked over to join their group at the Ferris wheel. Phil looked over and caught his eye, smiling easily. PJ seemed to take this as an invitation.

“Alright there, Phil?” he murmured. Dan was marching ahead of them. He was scared, Phil could tell. He didn’t blame him.

“Yeah, thanks,” Phil responded. PJ eyed him again.

“Dan alright?”

Phil shrugged.

“I hope so.”

PJ nodded then stopped walking. Phil stopped too and turned to look at him.

“Phil-” PJ began, and then stopped. His face looked conflicted. Phil waited a moment to see if he would continue then shrugged.

“Everything's alright Peej,” he said, “I'm just- just figuring something out.”

“Right,” said PJ, looking away from Phil. There was a smile tugging at his lips now, and when he looked back at Phil he looked happy. “Right. And is there anything I can do?”

Phil smiled back and shrugged, suddenly feeling shy. Maybe he hadn’t been as good at pretending as he thought he had.

“I don’t think so,” he said quietly. PJ’s smile grew bigger, and he started walking again. They were almost at the Ferris wheel, could see their friends getting in the little carriages. Dan, Jake, and Chris were climbing in the last one, the rest of the group already in a carriage above them.

“Oy!” yelled PJ suddenly, making Phil jump. “Oy, Dan!”

Dan looked over, pausing with his hand on the side of the compartment, about to get on. PJ ran over to him and pointed at something in the distance. When Dan took a step back to look at whatever it was, PJ jumped into the car and slammed the door shut with a triumphant shout. The ride operator, a witch it seemed, decided to take that as a go ahead, as she screeched at Dan to “move or die” and the wheel began to turn. PJ winked at Phil as he left the ground.

Dan looked around, confused, and then walked back to where Phil was waiting.

“What's up with him?” Dan asked. Phil shrugged, suddenly nervous. He could see Dan looking at him out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t turn.

Another carriage rotated down to them, and a group of people got out. The witch gestured to Phil, and he and Dan walked over to climb in.

 

**Dan**

As Dan climbed into the small, round little carriage, he felt the ghost of a hand on his back, ushering him inside. It was a small gesture, but it made him flush, heat spreading from his head down to his feet. He frowned slightly, and settled down on the seat. Phil climbed in after him and, instead of taking the seat across from him, sat directly beside him. The carriage could fit four people, but it wasn't exactly roomy, and Phil’s leg pressed against Dan's from hip to knee when he sat down.

As the ride took off again, Dan bit down a wave of panic. Why was he so scared?

They rode for a few seconds in silence, both lost in their own thoughts.

When they crested the top of the ride the wheel stopped to let in more passengers and Phil's knuckles brushed against Dan’s knee. Dan didn’t look over, but the brief touch set his nerves screaming. After a moment Phil’s fingers, just the tips, settled on Dan’s leg, just above his knee. Dan froze. This was new, this touching. And the feeling that came with it- it wasn’t supposed to feel like this. To feel so... good.

When Dan didn’t react to Phil's gentle touch, Phil's hand slowly settled down so that it was lightly resting on his leg. Dan couldn’t move. Phil’s thumb made a small circle over Dan’s knee, and Dan forgot how to breathe.

 

**Phil**

Phil was touching Dan. Not a casual touch either. And Dan was letting him.

Phil’s hands were shaking, but the contact with Dan helped to steady him a little. He made another circle with his thumb, and Dan let out a long breath of air.

If he didn't want this, he would stop it, right? Dan wouldn’t let Phil touch him like this if he didn't like it. So he must like it.

Phil took a deep breath and reached over with his other hand. He stroked his knuckles over the back of Dan's hand, and then waited. His friend was absolutely still beside him.

Then Dan turned his hand over.

 

**Dan**

Dan had no idea what was happening. Why Phil was winding his fingers through Dan’s, his other hand still stroking light circles on Dan’s leg. Why Dan was letting him.

All he knew was that his heart was so loud in his ears he could barely hear anything else, and the thought of Phil stopping made his chest hurt.

He had never felt anything like this before. Each tiny little touch sent waves of heat down through his skin and to his bloodstream. He was burning from the inside out, he was a flickering flame.

Then Phil stroked a finger over Dan’s palm, just a whisper of a touch, and Dan felt like he would fall apart.

He let out a shuddering breath.

 

**Phil**

Phil had never been so simultaneously ecstatic and terrified.

This was the best and worst thing he had ever done, and he knew he was never going to recover.

Now that he was touching Dan, he was never going to want to stop.

 

**Dan**

Dan was absolutely, entirely on fire. He was finally going to have to change his stupid branding.

 

**Phil**

They rode around the Ferris wheel in silence, hand in hand. Why had Phil never held Dan’s hand before? It was the best thing he had ever felt.

Dan was breathing in shallow little breaths now, and every time Phil made another small circle on his leg, he would hold his breath.

They hadn’t made eye contact, hadn’t said a word since they got on. Phil bit his lip and looked over at Dan.

Dan was staring out of their carriage, staring down at the lights below. His face was tight, but his eyebrows were raised, just a little, and his lips were parted slightly. Phil had never seen that expression on his friend’s face before. He didn’t look upset though. He looked surprised. He looked… beautiful.

Phil blinked.

He had never thought of Dan as beautiful before. But now that he had, he couldn’t look away. The lights from below caught in Dan’s hair.

When the ride began to slow as they reached the bottom again, Dan looked over at him suddenly. His eyes were wide, pupils blown. They were alight with some kind of emotion.

“We're almost at the bottom,” he whispered, and his voice cracked.

Phil nodded, eyes wide, sure that if he tried to speak nothing would come out at all.

They continued to watch each other until their carriage came to a halt.

Dan let go of Phil’s hand. Phil wished he hadn’t, but was also glad, because there was no way he could have done it himself.

Everyone was waiting for them when they got off the ride. Wes caught his eye, raised his eyebrows, looked away. Phil felt himself flush. He felt different, like everything was written across his skin. PJ was looking at him too, and his friend was smirking, but no one else seemed to have notice anything amiss.

“Next house?” Chris asked eagerly, oblivious. Nobody disagreed.

They began to walk towards it, to the Keepers Doll Factory. Dan was walking ahead of him, but not far away, as Phil would have expected. Dan liked to run when things got uncomfortable. He didn’t face things head on, he avoided them at all cost. Which was fine, but Phil hoped he wouldn’t do that tonight.

As they neared the Doll Factory, the thought of being in another house, being trapped in so close to Dan… Phil stopped walking. He needed to do something, say something, try something. He would never forgive himself if he let this feeling simply slip away without ever even giving it a chance. He felt like his skin was buzzing with the memory of the Ferris wheel, and Dan, and he needed it again. He needed… to know.

“Dan,” he called out. The group had kept walking, and was a little way ahead. Dan heard him though and stopped, turning around until he saw him. Dax and PJ turned too. “I need to use the toilet,” Phil called. “Dan will you come with me?”

Dan hesitated. If he said no, that was fine. That was that. Phil wouldn’t blame him at all.

But he hoped he would say yes.

For several agonizing seconds Dan was silent, staring at him.

And then- “Okay.”

Phil felt very fragile, like any sudden movement and he would shatter.

Dan began walking towards him, when Dax spoke up.

“I could use a toilet, I'll come with you too.”

Phil’s heart sank, but then PJ grabbed Dax’s sleeve.

“Nah man, everyone's gone ahead, I'll have to go through the house alone. Come through with me.”

PJ didn’t wait for an answer, taking Dax’s sleeve and pulling him along beside him.

Dan and Phil both watched them go, and then Dan turned back to him.

“Come on, then.”

Phil swallowed hard.

They walked together towards the toilets. Phil could feel the tension between them, and when Dan’s hand brushed briefly against his, Phil couldn’t handle it anymore.

He grabbed Dan by the arm and pulled him into a little empty alleyway between two buildings.

“What-” started Dan, but then stopped, his voice breathless.

Phil stared at him, at the light glinting off his hair, at his eyes, so wide and expressive. Dan stared right back.

Phil took a step forward, reached towards him, and then turned away again. Dan exhaled loudly, still staring straight at him.

“Phil,” he said, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

And that was all it took.

Phil closed the distance between them in two strides, bringing his hands up and threading his fingers through Dan's hair in one swift movement, and pushing his lips to his.

Dan made a soft gasp of surprise, and Phil pressed against him harder, pushing him into the side of the building.

 

**Dan**

Dan had thought he understood what kissing was before, but now he knew that everything before this moment was nothing. Kissing was Phil's lips against his, and Phil's hands in his hair, and Phil's breath in his lungs, and never wanting to breathe again.

It didn't even matter that he wasn't kissing a girl, because he was kissing Phil.

 

**Phil**

Kissing Dan was even better than he could have imagined it to be. Especially once Dan started kissing back.

He moved his lips against Dan’s, and Dan made a small noise in the back of his throat. Phil pressed harder against him, so that there wasn’t an inch of space between their bodies. He had never been so absolutely physically close to someone, and still want- need, long- to be closer.

Phil sucked Dan’s lip between his and bit gently. Dan shivered, and brought his hands up around Phil’s neck, twisting them into his shirt as if holding himself up. Phil smiled into Dan’s lips, moved one hand to Dan’s cheek, stroking his thumb across Dan’s cheekbone. He wanted to feel every inch of Dan, wanted to feel his skin against his own.

 

**Dan**

Phil was a damn good kisser. Dan thought he might collapse. He had never felt this good. He felt alive. He felt happy.

 

**Phil**

Phil could stand here, kissing Dan behind an empty building at Fright Night, for the rest of his life. It was beauty and pain all at once, and he knew he was done for. He was utterly wrecked.

They only broke away when they heard Chris calling for them.

Phil pulled away gently, and rested his forehead against Dan's, his hand still in his hair.

Dan opened his eyes for a brief moment, and then closed them again.

“Holy shit,” he breathed.

Phil nodded, and he couldn't stop smiling.

Chris yelled again, closer this time, and Phil jumped.

Dan opened his eyes and looked at him. Phil pulled away, and slid his hands down from Dan’s hair to his arms, taking both hands in his. Dan smiled at him, and Phil released a breath of air he hadn't realized he was holding.

They were both breathing hard, and Dan’s hair was tousled from Phil’s hands.

Someone else called their names, and Phil jumped again, letting go of Dan’s hands.

They turned to go in unison, without a word.

As they neared the end of the alleyway, Phil hesitated and glanced over at Dan. Dan looked back at him and smiled shyly, then reached for Phil’s hand and pulled him out into the main path. Dan rubbed a thumb over Phil’s hand now, and Phil shivered as they walked towards their friends.

Neither one of them let go this time.


End file.
